Rome: days three and four

Well hello again! I am going to do the best I can in recapping the last two days here in Rome. Yesterday was a walking day where we walked and saw a lot of the monuments and famous landmarks of Rome. We first saw the Pantheon which was amazing. Some of these sights are so much more than just the pictures we see in books or magazines. Luckily we had Rick to guide is around. Then we wandered to Piazza Navona and hung around there. Rick suggested the best gelato in Rome so obviously we had to go :). It really was good gelato. I am currently keeping up with my goal of having gelato every day. Also, Tony and I are having Italian food for lunch and dinner. It rotates between pizza and pasta. The best part is that we're not even sick of it yet!!

We then continued on and saw the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Once again, these sights are so much better in person. We wandered along a big shopping street before it started raining. It was cool to be in the middle of Rome in the middle of a thunderstorm. Yes we had umbrellas but in case you were wondering, my shoes are still wet. After it stopped raining and we took another siesta, we walked back to the Trevi Fountain to see it at night. Beautiful. 

Today, we went and spent the day in Vatican City. We ventured on the metro and made our way to the museum. The tour guides tried to tell us it was a two hour wait, but we only stood in line for about 40 min. The Vatican museum is enormous!! We saw a lot of statues and a lot of beautifully painted ceilings. After the museum, we ended up in the Sistine Chapel. Gorgeous. We sat in there listening to Rick talk about it for about a half hour. Afterwards, we found ourselves in line to climb the dome of St Peters. That dome climb was even higher than St Paul's!! Out of breath at the top, the view was spectacular.  

Because we climbed the dome first, we didn't have to wait in line to get in the church itself. That church is massive and so beautiful. We walked around and listened to Rick talk some more about the church itself before heading out into the square. 

This whole trip has been breathtaking. I can't believe I'm actually in Italy right now!! Tomorrow we're taking a trip to Pompeii to see the ruins there. We're also hoping to grab dinner with one of our friends from the U. 

It's been raining a lot but just usually in the afternoon after we've seen the sights. Hope everyone in MN is okay after the storms this week!

The following pictures are from the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain (day and night), and my gelato!!! Enjoy!!